Run Chart Tool

Alternative Formats

If you need a Section 508 compatible version of the tool, please contact us.

Track Your Organization’s Performance and See If You’ve Made Progress

How do you know changes you are making to processes or systems are actually leading to improvement?

To help, Qualis Health has developed a run chart tool that displays performance on defined measures over time. The tool allows you to track up to six user-defined measures. Download the tool (a Microsoft Excel file) or contact us for a Section 508 compatible version.

As outlined in the instructions, there are four objective rules for determining whether your run charts are indicating improvement. These simple rules are based on concepts of probability statistics. They are:

Shift

Trend

Number of Runs

Outlier

The rules will guide you in determining if your run chart shows improvement or is merely random variation.

You can apply this approach to any quality improvement project on any topic (clinical, business, customer satisfaction, etc). For example, nursing homes can track falls, restraints, pressure ulcers; hospitals can track CAUTIs, hand hygiene compliance, and HCHAPS scores; physician offices can track immunizations, smoking cessation, and many others. Using data for feedback and monitoring is a core element of quality improvement projects.

Example:

For a more basic tool, use the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s (IHI) Run Chart. (Users need to create a username and password.)